VISITING THE CITY
Adèle Geras

the earth apologizes to the corpse
for falling on its eyes  sorry  so sorry
a whispering somewhere between
yellow sand and brown

and no one told her she could not wear pearls
and no one told her that a man would come
with a small knife and make a cut
in her lapel

she spent half the night going through
a wardrobe which had not changed at all
there she had found something old
something to slice through

she wore it over her dress
and thought about hair
long ago gone from gold and about to be
heaped with earth   sorry so sorry for covering your eyes

the city was nothing this time
shavings of sky from bedroom windows
picturesque rectangles flying past the car

at the airport she had bought a nailfile
and filled the hours when everyone was resting
with pleasurable scrapings  dreamed of the day
when melted pearls would dangle from her fingers

so then he did come with the sharp knife
and took hold of the fabric  she had to guide his hand

no  not the dress  only this  cut this here
and leave the dress  she would have chosen
to wear a necklace  but they forbade her

the variously bereaved tried hard to think
of something other than the yellow earth
and the corpse    tiny and shrunken under the cloth  sorry sorry
for covering your eyes  so sorry

always five in the morning and dawn like roses
when the car comes and takes her down
from the mountains to the coastal plain

to pick up her silver wings
and fly home  sorry  sorry  sorry